Of Sleighs And Secrets!
by Komett
Summary: When Natsuki the engineer for sleigh maintenance accidentally crashes through her roof, Shizuru finds herself dragged back to the North Pole in order to keep Natsuki's existence a secret. But how can Natsuki keep HER a secret from her co-workers? AU.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Mai HiME.

A/N: Everyone is getting into the Christmas mood right around now, so I thought I'd try my hand at a weird AU Christmas. Natsuki's an elf? Yep, weird. ^^

* * *

Wiping her brow, Natsuki slid out from underneath the vehicle, being extra careful not to bump herself on the razor sharp blades that ran lengthways along the bottom of the machine.

She'd lost too many chunks of hair from accidentally coming into contact with the runners as she'd slid back and forth underneath while performing maintenance on the engine and had only recently given into her co-worker's demands of tying long hair back whilst working.

The only reason she hadn't done so earlier wasn't because she was intent on taunting the Work Safety Practices Policy of her employment, but rather because having her hair tied exposed her ears.

Sighing ruefully, she set down her wrench and sat up, running her fingers over the slightly pointed tips of her ears with one hand while she wiped off excess grease onto her green worker's uniform with the other.

She scowled as she heard a scoff coming from the desk on the other side of the garage.

"Stop moping, idiot. If I hadn't made you wear your hair back then **I** would been the one having my ass chewed out by those stuffy bastards up in Management, you know."

Natsuki shot a glare at her supervisor who was leaning back in her desk chair, legs propped up on the table and short green skirt riding just high enough to reveal a tease of red lace on the girl's thigh.

"Shut it Nao. You have short hair that covers yours anyway, so you don't even understand the damn problem!"

Nao smirked and set her black heel-covered feet onto the cement ground, twisting to instead lean her elbow against the table as she gestured out the large window.

"Hey, don't mind me. You need to hurry up and get over your stupid insecurities and get the sleigh finetuned before the old geezer leaves in a few nights. If you haven't noticed, it IS the day before Christmas  
eve."

Natsuki turned her head and gulped when she set eyes on the giant electronic billboard placed outside the enormous factory.

Even through the somewhat-blizzard they were having at the moment, it's huge red digital numbers continued to tick away forming a 12 foot tall electronic countdown until 'Launchtime' on Christmas eve.

"Heh, it's your first year being allowed to work on the actual sleigh rather than some crappy toy mass-producing machine and you're gonna screw it up!"

The impish rather than elfish grin remained on Nao's face even after she was forced to duck slightly in order to avoid the small oil can that Natsuki ditched at her, which hit the brick wall behind the desk and  
clattered to the floor, sitting in an ever-growing pool of it's own contents that gushed out of the now split side.

"...You're cleaning that up in your lunch break."

"Shut up, Nao."

* * *

When lunch break came, Natsuki begrudgingly spent the first five minutes hastily wiping up the spilt oil.

_  
Damn Nao never hesitates to abuse her authority over me! How did someone like her get an inspector's position anyway?!_

With her remaining 50 minutes, she firstly untied her hair from it's crudely-assembled bun and allowed it to once again freely cascade down her back, her bangs falling into place to cover her ears once more.  
After that, she left her workstation and trudged off in search of the cafeteria.

The Factory, as it was called, was actually an enormous building consisting of numerous floors and divisions which were sprawled out on a massive snowy campus. Being a factory engineer, Natsuki stayed in the Worker's quarters along with the other labourers such as the Assemblers or the Janitors, while elves on Nao's level and upwards were permitted to stay in an assigned apartment block just off campus.

To clarify, the elves who worked for The Factory weren't as miniature as the stories and rumours suggest. They were equal in height to maybe a short human, and besides the pointed ears that Natsuki despised so much, possessed an anatomy that was equally similar to humans.

Stopping short in front of a vending machine situated in one of the clean white hallways, Natsuki fumbled around in her pocket as she eyed the bottle of cola that she planned to take with her to the food court. The cafeteria charged way too much for their drinks anyway, in Natsuki's opinion.

Retrieving a gold coin, Natsuki briefly glanced down at the chubby, cheerful face grinning out at her from the coin's surface before pushing it into the money slot. As an industry standard, the workers were entitled to a set amount of these coins per week based on their job, coins which were used to operate just about everything in the entire North Pole from the vending machines to the shampoo dispensers in the rooms, and even to the after-hours bars that operated nightly.

The Boss himself was often a target of criticism for many of her co-workers due his policy of paying everyone on a "pyramid scheme" - Basically, the way it worked in the Factory was that you worked in a basic job that fits your area of expertise and work your way up each year by honing your skills and excelling in your area. Natsuki herself was part of the engineer division, one who goes around and repairs busted machinery and broken appliances.

This year was the first year that she had been entrusted with the job of fixing up the sleigh, finetuning it's engines and making sure the entire system was functioning correctly after a year of sitting in the garage. Most annoyingly was the snowy climate outside - sometimes it reached purely unbearable temperatures in the cold cement garage, and as any self-respecting engineer would know; Cold weather = bad engines.

Although she was glad for her significant pay rise this year, she was never one to join her fellow workers who complained endlessly about their low pay or organised strikes. Most of these people were angry about the lack of holidays they received per year and the pay being too low to support a normal after-hours social life.

Being the loner she was, holidays and drinking binges never really appealed to Natsuki and therefore what she was paid was always enough to fund her living habits. In fact, the young woman practically buried herself in her work and only rarely ever accepted an invitation from Nao or Mai to go out and have a drink with them occasionally.

Reaching down for her drink, Natsuki nearly fell over in shock as she heard a door a few metres down the hall slam open.

"This is ridiculous! We've had an entire year of good health and now suddenly this oaf tells me one of them is sick?!"

The little bell adorned to the manager's uniform tinkled merrily as it's infuriated owner stomped down the hallway in Natsuki's direction. A timid girl stepped out of the conference room behind the irate blonde, gently closing the door and scuttling to catch up to her superior.

"Haruka-chan, I believe the veterinarian knows what he is talking about... but you heard him, Rudolph should be fit and recovered by Launchtime..."

"Don't we have a backup reindeer or something anyway?! It's the digital age; we have things like portable floodlights now! Why the hell do we still need that stupid reindeer anyway?!"

"He's more of a figurehead I suppose, Haruka-chan..."

Natsuki tried to make herself unnoticeable as she stepped to the side, clutching her bottle of cola, not particularly eager to be shoved out of the way by the obviously violent blonde official or likewise become the poor target of her fury.

She was unlucky though.

"YOU!" the manager barked, stopping as she was passing Natsuki and thrusting a finger in her face.

"Who the hell are you, where are you from and what's your number?"

"Kuga Natsuki, Engineering, I386"

"Engineering, huh? Well get back to your own department and stop littering in the hallways!"

Natsuki was feeling angry and indignant at this accusation, but before she could open her mouth the yell "I haven't dropped any rubbish!" the blonde was corrected by her meek assistant.

"I think you mean "loitering," Haruka-chan."

Haruka shot a semi-glare at her partner Yukino before turning back to Natsuki.

"That's not important! What I was trying to say was "Get Out Of My Hallway!"

And with that, the disgruntled manager stormed off, her black shiny boots tapping along the floor as she disappeared around the corner with her mousey companion following.

Natsuki let out the breath she'd been holding. While it took every ounce of willpower not to start screaming back at that woman, let alone lash out and sock her one in the jaw, Natsuki had to remember that the woman in question was Suzushiro Haruka. She was in charge of the head division of the factory, and basically had to oversee all operations on site.

As Natsuki could plainly see, it must be a highly stressful job. Natsuki pitied Suzushiro's assistant.

Eventually making her way to the cafeteria with 30 minutes left of her break, Natsuki took one look at the huge queue and smirked secretly. Sometimes, it _was _good to have friends.

Stealthily walking around the line, Natsuki made sure no-one was looking as she reached behind her back and quietly opened the wireframe kitchen door before slipping in completely.

Inside was chaos. The kitchen staff didn't wear the usual all-green uniform like the other workers, but instead were clothed in regular white chef's garb.

It was standard for all other divisions to wear green, although each uniform varied between the divisions in order to suit the job they were performing and also as a quick method of distinguishing between workers when they weren't wearing their badges, in which case one would have to quote their job and number, like Natsuki had done for Suzushiro.

For example janitors, stablehands and the engineers wore long-sleeved shirts and pants to avoid messy things such as oil spillage in Natsuki's case.

Assemblers and other unspecialised workers wore the typical short-sleeved buttoned shirts with the matching shorts, along with those ridiculous pointed caps that Natsuki was glad to be spared.

Supervisors and managers wore the white collared shirts with the green tunics over the top and each had a set of small bells sewn to the shoulders. The female higher-ups were allowed to wear skirts, heels, and makeup. Nao was one who took full advantage of this allowance.

The workers before Natsuki at the moment were spared the bright Christmas colours as they fluttered about back and forth in their white aprons, removing trays from ovens and boiling soups and what-not.

Standing on her tip-toes, Natsuki was unnoticed by any of the busy staff as she scanned the crowd. Her eyes brightened as she caught sight of a tuft of orange hair poking out from under a hairnet as the owner stood over a stove stirring a pot of simmering broth.

Making her way over to the girl, while cooks and kitchen hands darted past and around her like busy highway traffic, Natsuki smirked cheekily and leaned towards the taller girl's ear, who was completely oblivious to Natsuki's presence.

"Hello Mai."

A pair of startled violet eyes met hers as the girl dropped her ladle into the pot and spun around to face a now-chuckling Natsuki.

"God damnit Natsuki! Don't do stuff like that when I'm standing over a hot stove! That's how accidents happen!"

Natsuki rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Yes, Mother."

Ignoring the bluenette's sarcasm, Mai sighed and turned back to her pot, trying to pick up her fallen ladle without burning her fingertips.

"I suspect you're here because you want me to feed you, right?"

At Natsuki's noise of affirmation, Mai quickly gave a short glance to her boss who luckily was busy on the other side of the room carving some kind of meat. Ducking to the cupboard below the stove, she retrieved a white china bowl and spooned some of the soup into it before handing it to a starving Natsuki.

"There's some bread already set up outside on one of the serving tables, now hurry up and get out of here before Sakomizu-sama catches you in here and I get in trouble!"

After taking a quick sip of the steaming soup - _Chicken noodle, yum~! _- Natsuki cast her sight over to the refrigerator which stood directly next to the bench that Mai's boss was working at. Mai frowned when she followed Natsuki's gaze.

"Oh hell no! There's no way I am gonna risk getting busted just because you want to run over there and steal a bottle of mayonnaise! Get out of my kitchen, now!"

And without any further argument, a disgruntled Natsuki was shoved towards the exit and out of the kitchen altogether.

* * *

Natsuki was running five minutes late once she finally returned from her lunch break, which Nao was quick to point out.

"Oh shut up. Says the girl who randomly ditches her post to go off and flirt with the stablehands."

Nao huffed and folded her arms.

"So? Have you seen some of them boys? All muscled from the physical labour and lifting bales of hay and stuff... And even most of the girls down there are just downright hot..." She paused, smirking at Natsuki's disinterested expression.

"Ah, but of course you're unaffected by anything regarding hormones aren't you, little miss No-Sex-Drive?"

This particular subject, just like the topic of her ears, was touchy for Natsuki.

"Oi!"

"Now now, don't start getting angry at me, _virgin girl_..."

"I-I just haven't met the right person yet!"

Nao drummed her long fingernails against the tabletop, amused.

"Yeah, that's because in the entire six years you've been out of qualifying school, you've only **met **three people! And that would be Mai, Mikoto and myself!"

Choosing to ignore her taunting supervisor, Natsuki lay down again on the wheel board, slide herself back under the massive steel vehicle and continued her work.

* * *

A few hours had passed and Nao was bored; opting to ignore her paperwork and instead draw little scribbles featuring herself as spiderman and webbing up bad guys when a sudden shout from Natsuki scared the crap out of her and made her jump in her seat.

Screwing up the paper and removing her reading glasses, Nao rolled backwards in her chair and peered around the desk to Natsuki's prone form whose legs were visible poking out from beneath the sleigh.

"Oi, what's up mutt? Don't tell me you cut yourself on the blades _again_? Idiot."

Natsuki rolled back out and grinned up at her somewhat friend.

"No, I just finished something awesome."

Nao raised one thin red eyebrow as she tossed Natsuki a curious glance.

Getting up, Natsuki wiped her hands on her pant legs and walked around the sleigh to the front controllers, reaching in and running her fingers over a tiny black gearstick poking out of the main console.

Nao snorted.

"Oh yes, awesome. You found the controls. You want a medal, Natsuki?"

Shooting a glare at her unimpressed supervisor, Natsuki walked to the back of the sleigh and pointed out two huge new exhaust tubes protruding from beneath the engine.

"See these? I installed them. To put it bluntly for a technological moron like you Nao, you can think of them as turbo boosters."

Nao leaned back in her chair and stretched.

"You're the moron, Kuga you grease monkey. The old geezer already has the ability to bend time in order to make a round-globe trip in a few hours, he doesn't even need boosters."

Although Nao said this whilst stifling a yawn, in order to further portray her boredom, Natsuki answered her with another mysterious smirk that put her on edge.

"Yeah, but haven't you been watching T.V lately? All the rise in pollution and stuff is making it near-impossible for him to circumnavigate at his usual flight distance, and having to travel even lower leaves him at  
risk of being seen, right?"

Nao just groaned and rubbed her face tiredly.

"Sorry, I have better things to spend my allowance on then that ridiculous television, unlike some people with no life."

Natsuki huffed, and Nao continued.

"Anyway, like I said, the man can _bend time. _No mortal eye is ever going to be able to see him flying around, even if he was only travelling a few feet above the ground! And besides, who on earth would be awake and walking the streets on Christmas eve?"

Natsuki leaned against the sleigh.

"You're right, no mortal eye can see him. His ability protects him from being seen by humans that may happen to out and about at night. However,"

She drew Nao's attention here.

"Surveillance cameras, Traffic cameras, plane-tracing cameras? Nao, this is the digital age! All this technology is a threat to our secrecy! Not even time bending can escape the view of a camera... notice how in  
recent years there's been more reports of UFO's? It won't be long before someone pieces it together or at least gets a clear enough shot to see that it's a giant sleigh being pulled by flying reindeer, **especially **since he's being forced to fly lower and lower each year 'cause of the smog blanket!"

Nao was silent for a few moments before voicing out a question.

"... So, these turbos of yours can move fast enough to avoid that?"

"That's exactly right. And The Boss's time-bending will allow him to still maintain control over the sleigh."

"What about the reindeer?"

"Pfft, won't even need them! Not once I install the floodlights, anyway" Natsuki smiled, secretly thanking Suzushiro for the suggestion.

After a few moments, Nao began to laugh. Then she laughed some more. At first Natsuki thought she was being mocked, by was surprised when Nao jumped out of her chair and slung her arm around her shoulders.

"Kuga! You've done it! This invention will send us straight to the top!" She looked... genuinely excited? It was rare for Natsuki to see such a joyful expression on Nao's face.

"I knew you had brains in there somewhere, mutt! You've made us famous!"

Natsuki eyed her supervisor warily, a hint of teasing in her green eyes.

"What do you mean by "Us?" You never helped me once! At all!"

"I'm your supervisor! I worked diligently to support you in your work!"

"Hehe, Riiiight. Whatever."

Natsuki couldn't help but let out a small smile as she watched Nao dance back over to her desk, the red-haired girl snatching and ripping up her paperwork throwing it around like confetti.

"You know what this means, Kuga?!"

"Fame?"

"YES! And no more paperwork! No more meetings! We'll be rich! Hahahahaha!"

While her superior was busy celebrating, Natsuki walked back around to the front of the vehicle and jumped over the side, settling into the driver's seat. It was huge, and roomy. The back of the sled was left completely empty, where the presents were gonna sit. Instead of the reins that would normally be attached to the reindeer's harnesses, Natsuki looked at the two pulleys she had installed beneath the dashboard.

Simple, really. Pull right to go right, left for left. Looking at the panel of different switches and buttons before her, Natsuki mapped out mentally what each one did.

_  
Let's see... there's the button that plays the "sleigh bells" mp3 soundbite through the loudspeakers... Here's his bluetooth adapter which connects to his wireless headset and projects his "Ho! Ho!" through the speakers too.... there's the blinker lights, the radio... this is where I'll probably install the headlight switch..._

Lastly, her gaze fell to the tiny, unimportant-looking toggle switch that she had been admiring earlier.

_  
The ignition._

Natsuki had designed it to have 3 different settings. Sitting in the fully upwards position, as it was now, was stationary mode. Flicking it down one level would start the engines as per normal, allowing for hover mode which usually would aid the reindeer in the initial blast off.

Pushing that switch to face directly downwards, however, would kick in Natsuki's twin pride and joys.

Feeling a sudden daring overcome her, Natsuki called out to her supervisor.

"Hey Nao, hit the roller switch would you?"

Nao, completely engrossed in her own plans of wealth, absent-mindedly reached out to the panel on the wall near her desk and hit one of the buttons. The large door to the garage began to open.

Flicking the switch midway, Natsuki felt the engines beneath her begin to hum as the vehicle began to hover, titlting unsteadily with Natsuki's weight as she eagerly shifted from side to side. Feeling her  
adrenaline-junkie side kicking in, Natsuki's love for the thrill of speed blinded her judgement. Nao was quick to come to her senses though, and she gaped at Natsuki in disbelief.

"Wha... What the hell Kuga?! What are you doing?!"

"I'm just taking it for a test drive."

"But, do you even know how to drive that thing-!?"

It was too late, anyway. Natsuki had already reached out and pushed the stick down. With a few seconds of no movement accompanied by a deafening roar as the engines started up, there was a blinding flash of light before Natsuki, along with the sleigh, disappeared completely from Nao's view.

* * *

Okay, now Natsuki's Adrenaline-Junkie Mode had cowered and fled, leaving her in Hysterically Terrified Mode as she was flattened against her seat, the wind and snow pushing against her so forcefully that she had trouble even reaching her hand to try and get to the controls.

_  
CRAP! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die up here! I'M SO STUPID! I can't control this thing because I can't time-bend! Damnit!_

Turning her head against the onslaught of wind of snowflakes, the engineer elf felt a stab of pity for Dr. Frankenstein, the man whose beloved creation had also turned out to be a murdering monster, as she  
futilely clawed at the dashboard.

Feeling her hand grip onto one of the pulleys, Natsuki tightened her fist around the plastic and yanked with all her might.

Bad idea. She nearly slid right out of the side of the vehicle as it jerked to the right and continued hurtling through the sky. Now pressed up directly against the edge of the sleigh, Natsuki took a deep breath and forced herself to peer down over the side to at least try and get an rough idea of where she was.

All she saw was inky blackness flying below her, it was nearly impossible to even make out any kind of streetlights due to both the fact that she was moving so fast, and at the height she was travelling.

In an effort to get lower, Natsuki reached out with her foot since her hands were pinned to her sides by the wind and used her heel to kick one of the pulleys downwards, feeling a sudden shift in her direction as the sleigh began to descend at a gradual pace.

Despite the biting cold, Natsuki felt herself sweating and she realised what was going to happen to her unless she acted quickly. _If I keep moving in this direction I'm going to eventually crash to the ground!_

Taking one more look over the side, Natsuki was overwhelmed to see what appeared to be thousands of tiny white dots rushing up at her, getting bigger and bigger with each passing second.

_  
It must be... a city! Civilisation! At least I'm not going to crash into the ocean!_

Fearing her imminent demise if she continued at this speed, Natsuki put all of her strength into reaching out for the dashboard, and and felt a rush of joy when she felt the familiar protrusion of the little black switch.

Hooking her thumb underneath it, Natsuki flicked the dangerous little gear to it's upmost postion, nearly crying in happiness as she heard the engines begin to die down. Now that the wind wasn't so vicious, Natsuki was able to turn her head back to face the front and she saw that she was flying downwards, at a level so low that she could even make out the different models of the cars she saw parked in people's garages.

Sliding forward and grasping the pulleys, she gently raised them up and levelled out the sleigh, so that it was now cruising along the sky at a comfortable speed, sighing in relief as she glanced below to see that she was travelling just above roof level.

Although aware of the danger of being spotted, even though it was painfully early in the morning and not many would be awake, Natsuki didn't quite have the courage just yet to raise the sleigh any higher.

After her near death experience, she merely wanted to sink back into the leather cushioned seat, calm her racing down a bit as the sleigh gradually got slower and slower.

... _Wait, slower? Oh right, no engines._ _Crap._

Natsuki had barely time to think clearly before the vehicle came to a stop altogether and plummeted downwards.

There was a loud crash, lots of debris and clouds of wall plaster as the sleigh partially demolished a house with it's fall.

One room of the house was entirely caved in from the impact - _The kitchen, _Natsuki guessed as she coughed and managed to make out a stove that was now covered in chunks of plaster and twisted metal beams.

Jumping out of the sleigh, Natsuki hurriedly walked out of the kitchen and went to go and check the other rooms in the house.

_  
Oh god, Oh god, I hope it was only the kitchen I damaged... Argh! What if I've killed someone?! What if there are small children living here?! What if someone __**sees**__ me?!_

With one arm over her face to block out the rising dust from the ruined kitchen, Natsuki quickly checked the living room and bathroom of the small house.

_  
So far so good... looks like the rest of the house is ok. Maybe these people are on vacation or something?_

Glancing into the final room, Natsuki surveyed the bedroom. It was empty. She strode in, grabbing the covers and pulling them back to make sure that there was no-one underneath.

Empty.

Theoretically, Natsuki knew that no-one would be able to sleep through a crash like that and therefore was just making absolute sure that the house empty. Except, she realised with a start as she let go of the blankets, that they were warm.

_  
Someone had been lying here just a few minutes ago..._

Suddenly, a soft and warm body pressed up against her back, Natsuki letting out a startled yelp as she was pushed face-first onto the bed. Lying in the tangle of covers, Natsuki's subconscious couldn't help but starkly feel the presence of two soft breasts flattened against her back, her hands pinned between both of their bodies.

Turning her head sideways to breathe, Natsuki struggled and tried to look over her shoulder and face her attacker.

"Oi! Let me go! What're you doing?!"

Natsuki froze as she felt a blade being pressed to her throat, eyes becoming wide as she breathed shallowly. Her attacker breathed like this also, warm puffs of air brushing Natsuki's cheek because of their close proximity.

Natsuki felt a lock of the other girl's silky hair slide across her neck as she shifted above Natsuki and moved to whisper directly into her pointed ear with a soft, lilting accent.

"Tell me, Alien, where are you from and what are you doing in my house?"

* * *

Preview for next time:

"I'm not a bloody alien! I'm not!"

"Well, Stranger-san, then what's with the pointed ears and the spacecraft, hmm?"

"I... Shut up! They're not _that_ pointed, damnit! And it's not a spacecraft, it's a sleigh!"

".... A-ara, is that right..."

Next chapter, Natsuki is forced to escape as neighbours and safety services surround Shizuru's house, leaving the elf no choice but to drag the girl back to the North Pole with her to keep their secret existence safe. Back at the factory, Natsuki convinces Nao not to tell anyone about the test drive fiasco while at the same time trying to keep the human girl hidden from her friends and co-workers.

* * *

A/N: A.k.a hardship on Natsuki's part. Hahaha. I'm hoping to finish this fic by christmas if you guys think it's a good enough idea.

Tell me what you reckon. :D

Leave any questions, reviews or comments!


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Mai HiME, or any elves. I did get a flatscreen T.V for christmas though!

A/N: Wow, had a crazy christmas (or at least, crazy christmas eve party) so wasn't able to update then, but here's chappie 2 for boxing day.

* * *

And so it was, after a minor scuffle and some knife-brandishing, that Natsuki eventually ended up with her wrists bound to the bed posts by a pair of black stockings and the young woman responsible for it perched on the end of the bed, scrutinizing her.

After a few moments of glaring silence save only for the sound of their heavy breathing slowly evening out, the tawny-haired femme fatale lay her knife gently on the covers beside her and reached her hand out to curiously poke the little tuft of silver tinsel that adorned the buckle on Natsuki's booted left foot. She shouldn't have.

"Hey! Don't touch me!"

Angrily, the elf kicked the dainty hand away and continued to thrash her legs about on the covers until her captor had wisely scooted even further down the end of the bed, retreating out of kicking distance. _Well, struggling is pretty much useless. I'm only tiring myself out... perhaps I should try negotiating with this human.. _Sucking in a deep breath, a miffed Natsuki prepared herself to speak somewhat civilly to the woman currently holding her hostage.

"Uh, look, sorry about that. I have issues with personal space and stuff, but... Can you **please **untie me? I have somewhere I need to be!"

Now sliding off the edge of the bed to stand, the owner of the partially-destroyed home peered out into her hallway, where she glimpsed sight of the scattered rubble and plaster dust spread along her floor from the ruined kitchen, and turned angry garnet eyes back on the intruder.

"Ara? Personal space issues? The creature that obliterates _my_ kitchen and then storms into _my_ bedroom has _personal space issues_?"

The icy fury that undertoned her words sent an involuntary shiver down Natsuki's spine. Or perhaps it was the combination of the wild, fiery eyes and the dangerously short lavender nightdress that showed more than just a hint of cleavage that made Natsuki shiver. Either way, be it fear or hormones, this woman definitely had an edge on Natsuki that was actually making her feel like she had to answer for herself truthfully.

"Look, about the kitchen, I'm really sorry -"

"How do you know my language?"

"Eh..?!"

Picking up her knife once again - _Damn that bloody knife!, _Natsuki's thoughts screamed - the standing girl thrust her arm out and pointed into Natsuki's face.

"Don't play stupid, Stranger-san. I may currently be a student of law, but I used to get top marks in my physics class too and I _**know**_ that there is no way any engine built by mankind could propel a vessel of that structure and size through the air. Meaning you are obviously not human."

Natsuki struggled for words like a goldfish out of water.

"Well, I'm not quite human, but I know physics too! I'm an engineer! And if you'd just untie me I could show you how I've modified the engine to -"

"An engineer from which planet?"

Natsuki was getting sick of this. That damn woman was convinced she was some kind of extra terrestrial, and plus the fact that she was tied down to some hot girl's bed was just downright awkward for her.

"I'm not a bloody alien! I'm not!"

"Well, Stranger-san, then what's with the pointed ears and the spacecraft, hmm?"

"I... Shut up! They're not _that_ pointed, damnit! And it's not a spacecraft, it's a sleigh!"

".... A-ara, is that right..."

The tawny-haired woman felt a little faint, feeling the effects of being awoken at an ungodly hour by her house falling apart and then the mental exhaustion that came with fighting and restraining an alien (Really, nothing was going to change her mind about that fact!)

Shaking her head a little, she lifted her knife as a warning gesture to Natsuki.

"Well then, I'm going out to the kitchen to check that. I'll be back in a moment, so don't try to free yourself."

With a swish of shoulder blade-length hair, the woman had spun on her heel and left. Immediately, of course, Natsuki took to arching her spine in such a way so she could get her mouth and teeth onto one of the restraints and began to tug on it, her jaw slowly stretching and slackening the material.

In the kitchen, a one Fujino Shizuru curiously inspected the 'now-obviously a sleigh' and stood back, perplexed.

_Ara, perhaps I was wrong... but then, this cute girl admitted to me herself that she wasn't human, so what on earth could she be..?_

Back in the bedroom, Natsuki managed to pull free her second wrist and she sat up straight on the bed, wildly glancing around as she heard numerous voices surrounding the house.

"Fujino-san! Are you okay? What happened?!"

"Was it an earthquake?!"

"Fujino-san, can you hear me? It's me, your neighbour Totoro!"

As the nearby residents of the once-quiet street formed a group outside on Shizuru's lawn, the panicking elf who was now up and peering of the window allowed the curtains to fall back soundless as she backed away from the scene and twisted her fingers into her hair.

_Oh god... Oh no.. I should've expected this! Of course the loud crash would've woken half the neighbourhood up! Now I'm totally screwed!_

Bolting out of the bedroom, Natsuki nearly skidded completely into view as she tried to stop dead in the hallway, seeing the gaping hole in the kitchen wall and numerous concerned citizens peering into Shizuru's home through it. Back pressed firmly against the wall, Natsuki ever-so-gently leant forward and glanced around the corner into the disaster zone that was once a pristine kitchen and - to her horror - saw Shizuru leaning over her sleigh and talking back to the people on the other side of the rubble.

"Yes, I do not know quite what this vehicle is Haddo-san, but I am completely fine and I have apprehended the culprit for this damage..."

"Oh! Shizuru-san, I've already called the police! They're on their way to arrest that hooligan that's responsible for this mess!"

"Ne, Fujino-san, just what kind of vehicle is that? Some kind of homemade go-kart that they've crashed into your wall with...?"

Smiling politely, Shizuru leant even further across the sleigh, now balanced precariously over the seats, to continue talking with a weary but still beautiful accent.

"Ara, I have no idea... I'm sure we'll figure it out when the authorities get here... in the meantime, everyone should probably step back a bit as I'm not sure if there's any damaged electrical cords in the mess here...."

The people looked down at the mass of twisted metal, wood and plaster that was currently obstructing their way to Shizuru and stepped even further back, now suddenly a bit wary of Shizuru's words. Her entire neighbourhood loved her, the always-polite and ever-so gracious Fujino Shizuru.

The men all swooned and lusted after her, while the girls all idolised and worshipped her (and, in a lot of cases, swooned and lusted after her as well.)

With a bitten-back groan, Natsuki slapped herself in the forhead as the sound of approaching sirens could be heard wailing in the distance.

_Great. Just freaking great. Here comes the fire brigade, the police, probably the news crew... all gonna see me and see the sleigh and EXPOSE EVERYTHING! I can't let that happen.... I just can't!_

Steeling herself, Natsuki waited until all the civilians had stepped back on Shizuru's orders before closing her eyes and charging full ball towards the girl whose back was facing her.

Shizuru didn't even have time to brace herself as the full force of Natsuki lunged at her and threw her forward into the leather seats, too momentarily stunned to process what was happening.

"FUJINO-SAN! Are you okay?!"

"What the hell is going on?! Somebody help Shizuru-san!"

Ignoring the panicked cries of the crowd outside who flustered about amusingly in their pyjamas, a few brave young men even running up to the half-crumbled wall trying to scramble over it and save Shizuru, Natsuki kept one hand on the back of the struggling girl's neck to hold her in place face-down on the seat while her other hand frantically pushed and jerked at the controls.

A loud hum, then clunking noise as the sleigh fought to lift itself from the rubble and debris to hover over the floor. As it rose, the force of the engines caused bits of stray materials to be flung outwards as well as stir up a huge plaster-dust whirlwind. Alas, Natsuki could not help but feel the same concoction of fear, anxiety and panic that had filled her the instant she crash landed into the home.

_This dust is making a great cover for launching, but they all still got a good glimpse of me! Damn, now they ALL think I'm some kind of alien!_

With one last glance at the people below them, sprawled out on the lawn with their arms protecting their heads from the wind and flying debris, Natsuki reached out and hit the switch that sent them shooting off into the night.

* * *

".... Ara, you can let go of me now."

The pretty voice was somewhat muffled by the fact that Natsuki still had the girl's face pressed into the seat, held down by the strong grip Natsuki had on her nape. With a jolt, a she had forgotten that she even had hold of the girl in the first place, Natsuki moved to lift her hand but on second thoughts, pushed down even harder.

"Hey, this is punishment from when you tied me to the bed!"

Reaching up behind her back, the other woman slapped Nastsuki's hand away and pushed herself up, cautiously settling herself on the seat properly before turning and winking at Natsuki.

"Well you know, there are many girls who would've killed for that position.. being tied to my bed..." her words trailed off with a hint of mischievousness. Natsuki spluttered for a few moments.

"I.. What? No!.... What the heck?!"

Laughing demurely at the flustered reaction, Shizuru sunk back into the seat, lifting a hand to tiredly rub at the bridge of her slender nose before sighing.

"Well, I suppose that this all being a dream is out of the question... so where are you taking me?"

Natsuki glanced out of the corner of her eye at the woman, who appeared to sport an expression resembling one of those of a person who had resigned themselves to their fate.

"Say, you're not putting up much of a fight now. Considering how violent you were earlier, I would've expected you to throw me overboard by now and try to seize the controls."

Shizuru laughed again.

"I am an expert people-reader. If anything, I can see that you bode me no ill-intent.... at least I hope so. Don't tell me you're taking me back to your mother ship to feed me to your queen, no?"

Natsuki fought against every muscle in her body to not laugh at the words. It just simply wouldn't fit her cool persona to burst into giggles. However, she couldn't stop the smile that had snuck itself onto her lips.

"For the last time, I'm not an alien."

"Then what...?"

Natsuki sighed and glanced down at her hands which were firmly gripped on both pulleys. _Should I tell this girl the truth? Or maybe if I keep quiet and fly around until she falls asleep, I can drop her off back home and quickly high-tail it back to the factory before anyone notices I'm gone..._

Biting the inside of her lip, Natsuki inwardly groaned. _But her house would be swarming with people by now! I wouldn't be surprised if there's already some story on the news about an alien abduction..._

After a few more minute of silence while Natsuki contemplated her options, Shizuru continued to study the girl in profile.

_Those ears certainly aren't human... and the knowledge to fly this craft... and yet, I can't help but notice how attractive this exotic creature is... Ara, ara. I've become one of those sci-fi perverts._

Finally breaking out of her thoughts, Natsuki turned to Shizuru who had a slight blush on her cheeks, although Natsuki assumed it was from the cold wind and was unaware of the steamy thoughts that were manifesting themselves in the other girl's mind.

"Okay... I'm an elf."

Shizuru was dumbfounded. Not often did people manage to break her exterior mask, the one she held all emotions behind, but this latest piece of info even caused her jaw to drop ever-so-slightly.

"An... elf?"

"Yes."

".... Like Legolas?"

Natsuki sweatdropped. Shizuru could tell from her expression that she was a little off the mark with that guess. So, she tried again.

"Like the elves who work in Santa's workshop?"

"Yes! Exactly!"

"Ara, seriously?!"

Leaning forward on her hands, Shizuru leaned across the seat and stared at Natsuki up close, who in turn blushed uncontrollably and leant away from the other girl's proximity.

"Hey! Personal space issues, remember?!"

"Ah, kannin na."

Sitting back, but still a bit closer to the elf then she had previously been, Shizuru once again opened her mouth.

"But you're a lot bigger than elves are supposed to be."

"No, I'm a lot bigger than you humans _think_ we're supposed to be. I'm actually of average elven height."

"Ah, I see...... Well then, ara, Elf-san, where perhaps are you taking me?"

Natsuki grimaced.

"It's Natsuki. I'm Kuga Natsuki, Engineering, I386."

"Araaa, well I am Fujino Shizuru, Law Student, and I do not give out my phone number on the first date. Nice to meet you~"

"What?! I didn't mean it like - !"

Her words died in her throat as she looked at Shizuru and saw the teasing smirk on her face. _Oh, she was joking. _Huffing and turning back to face the darkness in front, Natsuki pretended to be busy navigating their course so she wouldn't have to look at the charming smile, or those bewitching eyes, or trail down to stare at that slender, milky neck...

Snapping herself out of the thoughts that were fast wandering into unfamiliar territory, Natsuki coughed and shifted in her seat.

"I'm taking you back to the North Pole with me."

"What? Why?"

"Because I can't trust you; you've seen too much."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence again as Natsuki gently eased the vehicle to the right and Shizuru had already by then scooted back to the other end of the seat, looking down at the far ground dejectedly. After a few more minutes of this, Natsuki could stand it no longer.

"Look, I told you already, _I'm sorry_. I didn't mean to crash into your house, and I didn't mean to force you into the sleigh and drive off with you like this... Once I've had time to figure everything out, I'll see if maybe I can get you home sometime..."

Upon hearing no reply, Natsuki glanced out of the corner of her eye at the young law student slumped against the side of the vehicle. Stray tawny locks were caught by the rushing wind and streaming out behind her, exposing a shoulder that the slipped-down nightdress had revealed and Natsuki could also see the hint of crimson from the girl's profile as she turned to face the front. _Beautiful._

Sighing, Natsuki gave up. She was never much of a conversationalist anyway, given her loner status. She had only three friends, and sometimes she even wondered exactly why they wanted to hang out with her in the first place. Natsuki was a daydreamer, always quietly thinking to herself and wearing a neutral expression, which many of her co-workers took to mean that she was a cold bitch. This was far from true - she was simply very socially stunted.

The sudden smooth voice startled Natsuki at first, as she wasn't expecting a reply from the other girl.

"It's alright. To be honest, my life was beginning to get very dull and droning after highschool. Especially since my parents began discussing omiais with me.... I'm rather glad that I've been swept up into this fantasy with a gorgeous young female."

Coughing loudly to cover her blush, Natsuki pointedly ignored the "gorgeous young female" remark and instead commented on the omiai part.

"So your parents are trying to get you hitched to some random guy? Sucks to be you."

"Yes, especially since I prefer partners of a more... soft and curvaceous variety?"

Now being truly unable to ignore the innuendo, Natsuki stuttered like an idiot for a few seconds before coughing once again for a hopeless cover. It came out as more of a choke though.

"B-baka! Stop with the teasing, alright! It's like you're going out you way to stir me up!"

"And who says I'm not, hmm?"

The sultry tone made Natsuki tingle in places she tried not to think of. It also miraculously warmed up her entire body, despite the fact that they were flying through a snow drift at night. Or maybe it was just her scorching blush that was heating her so. Hearing the soft chuckle from beside her made Natsuki inwardly groan again as she realised that she had yet again fallen into Shizuru's trap and reacted exactly how she wanted.

_Oh, I'm so gonna hate having her around for a while, _Natsuki sighed, thinking of the insufferable teasing. But then she thought of the beautiful smile, the soft outline of round breast through the thin nightdress material, the smooth hips and the long, creamy legs...

Ok, maybe she won't mind it _too_ much.

"So, Natsuki, where am I going to stay?"

Shizuru watched on curiously as Natsuki focussed in front of her, staring out at the blackness as her hands tightened their grip on the pulleys, her entire face slowly turning redder by the passing second.

"I... haven't thought that far ahead yet." the elf muttered sheepishly. Shizuru just chuckled again.

"Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing Santa's real-life workshop, Natsuki."

Flashing her a quick smirk, Natsuki gestured with her head in front of them as she veered the sleigh into a gentle descent.

"Really? Well, there it is."

Excitedly leaning forward, Shizuru's entire face lit up as the view of hundreds of little coloured christmas blinked up at them cheerfully, an entire little city stretching vastly before a huge, looming white structure that reminded Shizuru of the law firm she was currently taking work experience from.

"It's.... It really is wonderful." The light kansai accent was softened to a whisper that Natsuki barely heard as she angled the sleigh to cruise towards a large, open garage door that appeared to be situated on the third floor. Neatly flying in, Natsuki immediately killed the engines as she came to a smooth halt in the lit garage, the sleigh dropping onto the cement floor with a dull thud.

Releasing the controls and sitting back, Natsuki turned to the tawny-haired girl who was looking around the room in amazement, before her gaze finally settled once again on Natsuki.

"This isn't a dream, is it?"

The question sounded rhetorical, but Natsuki nodded anyway. Nodding also, Shizuru sat up straighter and glanced around a little more.

"And it's not a delusion? I'm definitely not on some T.V show? You're really an elf?"

Natsuki allowed a brief chuckle to slip past her lips as she shook her head exasperatedly.

"Really, I am. And as a matter of fact, I'm an elf that's going to be in serious trouble if I don't get you hidden away before -"

"KUGA!"

Natsuki flinched at the loud yell that erupted from the doorway. Panicking, Natsuki once again slammed Shizuru down flat into the seat to hide her from Nao's view as the red head stalked into the room and over to stand before her desk. She crossed her arms and regarded Natsuki with a pissed expression.

"What the hell were you thinking?! You're lucky it's so snowy out there, 'cause if anyone had've seen you flying around in the old man's pride and joy then Suzushiro would've had my guts for garters!"

Natsuki, trying her hardest to keep a normal expression, tightened her grip even more on the back of the other girl's head as a warning for her to stop struggling, which she was. Laughing nervously, Natsuki used her free hand to comb her fingers through her hair.

"Yeah, you're right Nao. I shouldn't have flown off like that... I dunno what I was thinking... Weeelll, now that I'm back, you may as well retire for the night while I finish up cleaning in here..."

Nao, whose miffed expression had changed to confusion midway through when Natsuki actually agreed with her for once, unfolded her arms a little and stared at Natsuki uncertainly.

"Kuga? You hit your head or somethin'? You're laughing... and you actually agreed with me..."

Frozen, Natsuki felt a sweatdrop ease it's way down the side of her face as she tried futiley to think of a way to _get Nao out of here. _

"Uhh.... Well, It's freezing cold out there and I do feel a bit dizzy, so maybe that's it... but I'm fine! Really! You can go now! I-I'll even clean up your desk too!"

Now utterly convinced that her subordinate was mentally unstable, Nao took a few steps closer to the sleigh while Natsuki hurriedly raised her free and shook her head, repeatedly telling Nao that she needn't worry and no, she needn't take her temperature.

As she got halfway to her acting-strangely co-worker, Nao halted in her tracks as she heard a muffled sound coming from the sleigh, which wasn't Natsuki.

"... What the hell was that?"

Before she could say 'Nothing!', before she could even try to come up with a complicated excuse for it being a standard engine sound, Natsuki felt her hand pushed aside by an annoyed brunette who now sat up straight, sucking in lungfuls of fresh air as she faced Natsuki angrily.

"Ara! I could barely breathe down there! Stop doing that!"

Natsuki's eyes fearfully wandered from the intense red pair in front of her, to the jade-green ones staring in disbelief in her direction. When a tiny choking noise from Nao finally caught Shizuru's attention, the tawny-haired woman turned around and smiled cheerfully at the newcomer.

"Hello, elf-san. I am Fujino Shizuru, Law Student, and my mother tells me to never hand out my number to strangers~! Nice to meet you"

"WHAT THE FREAKING HELL?!?!?"

Even Shizuru flinched back slightly at the red-haired girl's scream, the supervisor raising a perfectly manicured finger to point directly at the human girl sitting beside Natsuki, who was currently looking as though her world had just ended. Which, if anyone found out about what she'd done, it probably would.

"Kuga! What the HELL have you brought back here?!"

"Uhh.... a souvenir for you...?"

* * *

Preview for next chapter:

"Look, you'll stay in here and wait for me to get home from work, okay?"

"Araa~ would Natsuki like me to keep the bed warm and be ready and waiting for her when she gets home from a hard day at work, hmm?"

"H-hey! None of that... that weird sexual stuff!"

"Ara, that's no fun."

Next time, Shizuru is put under house arrest by Natsuki, who decides that hiding her in her dorm room is the best option. However, Shizuru gets bored and escapes the room, leaving Natsuki to chase after her as she enters... the mistletoe greenhouse?! Unfortunately for Natsuki (Or very fortunately) Shizuru is a big believer in tradition, and the old "kiss under the mistletoe" is a particular favourite of hers...

* * *

A/N: Well, didn't make it before christmas hehehe, I was very busy around then. My bad.

Please leave any of your comments or reviews~!


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Mai HiME or Christmas.

A/N: I know, I know... What's the point of an xmas story in February? Hahaha as out of place as it is, please read and enjoy it!

* * *

An ensuing argument on Nao's end (contained to strained and harsh whispering thanks to a worried engineer who kept shushing her and glancing at the door) brought about the current situation of the ever-proud Natsuki on her knees before the bewildered and infuriated supervisor who was trying to leave the room.

"Natsuki you idiot! Let... Me... Go!"

Nao growled out each syllable in tune with each time she tried to take a step forward, although the tight grip of the engineer's hands around her knee was making it almost impossible to move more than a few metres.

"No! Please, Nao! Please don't dob me in for this one! I swear I'll, uh, polish your boots every morning! I'll even PAY you in exchange for your secrecy!"

Nao, who was midway through attempting another step towards the door, stopped suddenly at these words and used her free leg to boot Natsuki backwards onto her rear.

"Whoah whoah, perhaps I can take a bribe, Kuga..."

Natsuki sighed shakily at these words as she sat up and rubbed her head, caught between feeling immensely relieved that Nao was co-operating and feeling immense fear at the impish glint in her supervisor's eyes, leaving her to wonder about just how much Nao would want out of the deal. Knowing Nao, the possibilities alone were enough to terrify Natsuki.

_Although I guess anything Nao could put me through would be ten times better than what Suzushiro would do to me if she found out I'd brought home a human..._

Biting back a small tremor at the thought of the blonde destructive force cutting off her ears or something equally savage, Natsuki climbed to her feet and plastered on an expression that tried to hide her shakiness from the redhead standing across from her.

"Ok, Nao. How much would you take in order to keep this quiet for me-" Natsuki began, before suddenly realising something and frowning.

"Hey wait, you're supposed to be my friend! How come I have to **pay** you to keep a secret for me?!"

Nao brought one hand up to her chin and smirked behind it.

"Kuga, I'm flattered and blah blah blah about the whole 'me being your friend' thing, but let's be realistic here. Anyone finds out that you've got this here without permission, and it's me as well as you that gets in trouble. There's no bloody way I'd risk MY neck on the guillotine for you unless there was some kind of compensation for it... monetary and otherwise."

Ah, those were the words Natsuki was dreading. Thinning her lips into a tight line to try and hold back her insults at Nao's less-than-friendly statement, Natsuki eyed the other girl warily.

"What do you want then?"

"I don't know... Just how much is she worth to you?"

Natsuki glanced over into the stationary sleigh where Shizuru still remained, watching the interaction between the two elves with what appeared to be polite interest but underneath was rapt fascination. Drawing her eyes away from the girl in the lavender nightdress, Natsuki once again turned attention towards Nao.

"She's worth nothing to me... but my job is," Here she paused and briefly scanned the room; all her mechanical tools adorning the walls and the little broken oil can from earlier still perched on the counter where she'd tossed it. She sighed.

"... my job is all I've got, really."

"Excellent!"

Nao grinned, clapping her hands together before leaning back against the wall and resting them behind her head.

"60 percent of your paycheck each week."

"WHAT?!"

"Until this time next year."

"NO WAY IN HELL!"

Natsuki stopped short of punching Nao and instead stomped off to the desk and banged it loudly with her fist, trying to appear threatening.

"Nao, you can't have that much! That's way too much for me to afford!"

Nao closed her eyes dismissively and smirked lazily.

"Hey if this was a real life gangster mob deal I'd be demanding six million and your left hand, you know."

"But it's NOT a real life gangster deal! You're just being a cow!"

Nao sighed and pushed herself off the wall, stalking over to her desk chair and slumping herself down in it. Natsuki remained looming across it, hands gripping onto either side of the table and pissed glare activated to full force. The supervisor brushed an imaginary piece of lint from the shoulder of her uniform before stretching back in her seat and resting her legs on the desktop.

"Yep, 60 percent of your wage _**and **_from now on you're to call me Yuuki-sama."

"Get stuffed!"

"Then get fired."

"GAH!" Natsuki threw her hands up into the air and turned away from her insufferable supervisor who was also one of her few friends, kicking over a can of paint - Which thankfully had it's lid on - and storming over towards the person that got her into this mess in the first place. Well, aside from herself of course.

Shizuru's eyes widened as she was roughly pulled to her feet by her forearm and none-to-gently guided out of the vehicle.

"Ara! Natsuki is being a bit careless, no?"

Natsuki just grit her teeth and continued leading her captive towards the door, pausing only to mutter a begrudging acceptance of the deal terms to a grinning Nao before exiting the room and slamming the door behind her.

Now out in the hallway, Natsuki considered letting go of her tight grip on Shizuru's wrist before deciding that she didn't trust the human well enough and instead continued leading her through countless winding and twisting corridors.

"Ah, perhaps Natsuki could be just a little gentler with myself...?"

Broken out of her worried thoughts on being seen by someone (even though it was very late at night) Natsuki turned to spare Shizuru a glance and, upon seeing the wincing pain flash through Shizuru's eyes, promptly released her death grip on the law student's now-bruising wrist.

"Oh, sorry!"

Snatching the human's hand up and pulling it forward for a closer look, Natsuki carefully inspected the damage to the dainty wrist before a soft giggling made her raise her eyes to meet the amused ruby pair fixed on her.

"W-what?" Natsuki blinked, feeling her ears burn as she was scrutinised by that face that she just _knew _was about to churn out some kind of teasing remark.

"Oh, nothing." Shizuru said breezily, gently pulling her hand back before causing Natsuki to tense up as she reached out again and lightly cupped the elf's cheek.

"It is just that Natsuki had such a cute concerned face on and I couldn't help myself."

Scowling at the other girl's amusement, Natsuki pushed the soft hand away from her face (although instantly missed the warm touch) and turned around with a snort.

"Shizuru, there's no time for mucking around. I have to get you out of here before you're - Crap!"

Shizuru shot Natsuki a dirty look.

"Ah, excuse me? Before I'm _what?_"

"Huh? Argh, not you! I mean '**crap, there's someone coming'**!"

Shizuru glanced around quizzically, hearing no sign of any approaching people. She only had time to barely glimpse the end of the hallway however before she was lifted like a sack of potatoes and thrown over Natsuki's shoulder.

"Ara! What on earth are you doing?!"

"Shut up! We have to go, _now_!"

And without giving a disheveled Shizuru chance to say much else, Natsuki had bolted off down the pristine hallway and threw herself into the nearest janitor's closet she could find.

Kicking the door shut with her foot, Natsuki hissed slightly at the pain in her shoulder as Shizuru wriggled herself backwards and lowered herself onto her feet, standing directly before Natsuki in the cramped dark space. Natsuki's breath was coming in short pants due to her mini exertion, the girl temporarily ignoring her tawny-haired companion in favour of leaning towards the door and listening intently.

Shizuru herself chose to stand still and enjoy the feel of Natsuki's soft body pressed against her front due to the lack of space, and her warm breath caressing the side of Shizuru's chin.

"Araa~"

Natsuki frowned at the breathy whisper Shizuru let out, unaware of the other girl's bliss and irritated that Shizuru was making noise when there was someone outside.

"Shh," Natsuki cautioned, trying to reach up a finger to her lips but blushing and quickly dropping her arm when she found that they were so close together she could only raise her arm as far as until it brushed against the underside of Shizuru's chest and was unable to go further.

Shizuru, although feeling rather warm and buzzed, soon understood Natsuki's nervousness when the heard the tapping of footsteps along the hallway.

_How did she hear those before when I couldn't? Ah, must be those ears of hers..._

Both of them standing dead still until whoever it was outside had passed, Natsuki breathed a sigh of relief and tried to lean past Shizuru and closer to the door as she listened for any sign of more people. Cursing under her breath as her foot accidentally brushed against an empty bucket with a muted clatter, Natsuki tried to precariously edge her way around the soft body in front of her and get towards the door.

It was dark, cramped, she was twisted in an awkward position around Shizuru and something was pressing into her thigh, but Natsuki tried to ignore her surroundings and focused on the outside.

_If anyone sees me with Shizuru, I might as well be shot dead on the spot... Oh, how the hell am I gonna get her back to my room?! I should've disguised her or something before we left the garage..._

Teetering even closer to the flimsy wooden door on tiptoes, Natsuki ignored whatever it was that was digging into her thigh until Shizuru turned her head ever so slightly and breathed directly into Natsuki's sensitive ear.

"Ara, I wasn't one to think that Natsuki could be so bold..."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Well, it seems that she is trying to push her hips into my hand, is all..."

With a girly shriek Natsuki flung herself backwards, taking a bucket, a broom, and an old rusty coat rail holding janitor's uniforms clattering to the ground with her. Blinking from her place on the dusty floor, Natsuki irritably pushed the broom off of herself and tried to clamber to her feet, eventually giving in and reaching out for the helping hand Shizuru was offering her, the cheeky human trying unsuccessfully to stifle her laughter.

"You could've told me that was your hand on my leg!"

"Ara, my hand was doing no ill until Natsuki tried to squirm further into it..."

"I WAS NOT! I thought it was like a, a broomstick or something!"

"Maah, Natsuki is one of the kinky ones...?"

"I am no- NO! No I am not!"

Natsuki was about to further try and protect her dignity but the sound of muffled voices caused both girls to simultaneously fall silent and stare and each other in alarm.

_Crap!_

Tate Yuuichi, walking along with one of his buddies Kazuya, stopped short in front of the door as his pricked ears picked up some odd sounds from inside it.

"Eh? Tate-kun? What's the matter?"

"Um, nothing... Well, it sounds like there's someone in there..."

Natsuki felt like her feet had been nailed into the floor with panic as she used every ounce of willpower to make her limbs move.

_Argh, curse you limbs! DO SOMETHING, BRAIN!_

And as the squeaky doorknob was rattled and turned, Natsuki bent down and quickly scooped up one of the green janitor's caps, slamming it down on Shizuru's head with enough force to nearly break the poor girl's neck in the process.

Tate gave a sharp tug and yanked the door open, revealing a flustered engineer pressed flat against a scantily-clad woman adorned in a green cap.

All parties stared stunned at each other for a few moments before Tate cleared his throat and pitched the question that both he and his male friend were eager to know.

"Er, Kuga-san... why are you holed up in a janitor's closet with a stripper?"

"A WHAT?!"

Natsuki flinched at the ear-splitting yell that erupted from the usually soft-spoken girl and it took her by surprise to hear such an angry tone. _This weird human is capable of yelling? Wow, even when I broke into house she never yelled._

Grimacing, Natsuki shot forward and clamped her hands over Shizuru's mouth, preventing her from blowing their cover as she took in a deep breath and inwardly braced herself for the blow to her reputation that she was about to endure.

"Well, I uh... met her at one of the clubs, and was... _getting acquainted_ with her before you two interrupted our privacy."

Natsuki ground the words out weakly, wanting to snatch them back and pretend she had not said them at all when she saw the matching idiotic grins break out onto the boy's faces.

"Oh, sorry Kuga-san. We'll leave you guys to it then."

"Yeah, wouldn't want to _interrupt_ the beautiful act of two chicks expressing their love!"

Natsuki fought down the urge to sucker-punch the smirk right off of Tate's face as he spoke the last comment with a bubbling excitement that told Natsuki he was just dying to race home and tell Mai about what he had seen. It was then that Natsuki realised she could use the stupidity of the men to her advantage.

"Hey dumbasses, it's not too comfy in here at all. Can you guys escort us back to my place for me? Shizu.. uhh..." Natsuki briefly hesitated telling them Shizuru's name, but figured that as long as they didn't see her ears and thought she was an elf it was ok for them to know so.

"... Shizuru would be in big trouble if her boss found out that she ditched her shift to be with me, so if one of you guys pretend she's your girlfriend we'll be able to make it back to my room no worries."

Kazuya, whose inner romantic was ignited at the thought of helping two forbidden lovers be together, nodded valiantly alongside Tate, who nodded merely because his hormones were telling him that walking two young girls back to a room where they'd make love to each other was _sweeeeet_.

Still a little sore about the stripper remark, though inwardly not blaming the men when she looked down at her current state of (un)dress, Shizuru peeled Natsuki's hands from her mouth and bowed politely to the two elves who were going to help her.

"Gokigenyou. I am Fujino Shizuru, a..." she glanced at Natsuki, shooting her a discreet yet pleading look, as the bluenette stuttered a bit and stepped forward placing a hand onto Shizuru's shoulder.

" -Assembler, usually. Although like I said, at night she works for one of the clubs downtown."

Kazuya brightened as he smiled sunnily at Shizuru.

"Oooh, an assembler? My girlfriend Akane-chan is one too, she works down in the wooden toys division. Have you met her? Or, to be more polite, which division is it that you work in?"

Shizuru tried to hide her nervousness behind a faltering smile as she tipped her head to the side.

"Ara, I don't believe I have met her. I work in the, uh... steel, division?"

Natsuki openly slapped herself in the face with her palm at Shizuru's stupid answer. _There is no such thing as a steel division!_

Still smiling politely at the two confused boys, Shizuru was startled to feel Natsuki wrap her arm around her waist and pull her flush against her side.

"Guys, don't listen to her. She's drunk. She get's all smart-alecky when she's had a bit to drink... she actually works up on fifth, in Dolls."

"Oooh, ok then. I was wondering what you meant, Shizuru-san! But Dolls must be a fun division for a nice girl like you, right?"

While Kazuya continued cheerily chatting to an uncomfortable Shizuru, Tate shot a smug grin at Natsuki.

"Taking advantage of the drunk? Just wait until I tell Mai..."

"Tate, I can kick your ass and you know it. Shut up."

* * *

Eventually the four of them reached Natsuki's door, a plain white feature with a gold "78" on it that looked identical to the ones dotting down the long hall each sporting their own consecutive number. Pulling her keys out of her pocket, Natsuki fiddled with the numerous trinkets hanging from her keychain as Shizuru bid goodbye to the boys.

"It was nice meeting you, Shizuru-san! I hope we meet again, and maybe I can introduce you to Akane-chan."

"Bye bye girls. Have fun! Don't forget to use protection!"

Natsuki spun around and growled at the hastily-retreating laughing blonde, Kazuya trotting along behind him as the pair disappeared around the corner.

Shizuru stepped up beside Natsuki and hummed to herself as the disgruntled engineer found the correct key and managed to get the door open.

"Ara, they were nice boys weren't they?"

Natsuki just grumbled to herself as she switched the lights on, both of them stepping into the empty apartment.

"Tch, speak for yourself. That idiot Tate is dating my friend Mai, so I get more than the recommended dose of him throughout the day."

Kicking off her shoes, Natsuki looked up and was amused to see Shizuru following suit and gracefully removing her slippers.

_It's a wonder she hasn't cracked and gone from crazy from all this yet... Maybe she wasn't lying when she said she was truly glad she'd been brought here._

Natsuki stood up and stretched a bit, rolling her neck to the side as she regarded her new roommate.

"I've never had a house guest before. Am I supposed to offer you some kind of food?"

Shizuru laughed merrily, a musical sound, and declined the blunt offer politely.

"No thank you, I had dinner with a suitor earlier this night. Ara, it is strange to think that only a few hours ago I was eating dinner with a potential marriage candidate before going home and settling in for a normal, uneventful night..."

Although Shizuru was simply musing aloud, Natsuki couldn't help the little stab of guilt that lanced at her heart. _Yeah, it was normal and uneventful before __**I**__ showed up and wrecked things for you..._

Looking over at Natsuki, Shizuru caught sight of the girl's forlorn and guilty expression and smiled softly at her.

"Really, Natsuki, it's ok. As long as you promise I don't get hurt, I don't think I can really argue with a chance to meet real live elves at Santa's real live workshop, no? I used to dream of it as a child."

Here, the demure girl laughed rather shyly and averted her eyes from Natsuki's. The elf chuckled also.

"You dreamed about us? Heh, I always dream about what it's like to live in a place that's warm and sunny, where I can freely ride about on a motorbike and see the ocean. You can't do any of those things here - too much ice."

The two girls shared a tiny smile.

"I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, no?"

"Hey, we don't even have grass here."

Shizuru couldn't contain the little burst of laughter that broke through her calm expression and caused her double over slightly, laughing all the while. Natsuki herself raised one hand and pressed the back of it firmly against her lips, not wanting to show herself so openly in front of the human. She was, after all, technically a stranger.

"Oh, Natsuki, you're funny. I'm very glad I was kidnapped by someone as gorgeous and funny as you, and not some brutish male or something."

Natsuki winced and shot Shizuru a weak smile.

"Well, to be honest, I don't think anyone else would be stupid enough to fly out in the middle of a snowstorm anyway, so you wouldn't have been kidnapped at all if it wasn't for my stupid ideas."

Shizuru chuckled softly a little more before gazing warmly at Natsuki through lowered lashes, the engineer feeling her body temperature kicking up a few notches at the sultry look.

"Well then, I'm very glad for Natsuki's stupid ideas."

Clearing her throat, Natsuki shifted on her foot and briskly stalked off towards a small door adjacent to the living area that Shizuru was standing in.

"Uhh, I'm going to go and have a shower... stay inside, and you can watch T.V if you want."

Shizuru nodded compliantly and approached the small wooden box while Natsuki disappeared into the bathroom. Shizuru studied the unique piece of technology with a keen fascination - It looked like it was made of wood and brass, the pale gold metal framing had tarnished and the odd buttons and dials on the front panel below the screen had no indication as to what they did.

Shizuru did the human thing. She poked, pushed and prodded at each button until something happened.

... Except, well, nothing happened.

Curiously tilting her head, Shizuru searched the top of the box for some kind of On/Off switch, running her hand along a tiny slot on the top before the banging of a door startled her out of her search and made her spin on her heel and face the elf who was now wearing just a white undershirt and her green trousers as she rummaged through a bag on her counter.

"Ngh, sorry, I forgot you'd be needing this.."

Plucking something from within the bag, Natsuki tossed the shiny object towards a surprised Shizuru who managed to catch it in two hands and hold it up to the light, inspecting it.

"You need to put it in the slot on the top there, to turn it on." natsuki called out, pointing at the T.V before once again entering the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

"Ah, I see."

Shizuru quizzically pushed the small coin into the slot and watched as the small machine buzzed to life and displayed a low-quality image of some sort of game show. Stepping backwards and sitting down on the small sofa, Shizuru observed the happenings on the screen before she recognised the show as being a rerun of a quiz show that she sometimes watched while she ate dinner alone in her home after work.

When 20 minutes of quizzes had passed, and the remaining contestant was up to the deathmatch round for a chance to win half a million, did the small door creak open again and Shizuru's wine-coloured eyes were immediately drawn away from the television and followed the towel-clad girl across the room. With Natsuki's hair pinned up and bundled on top of her head, her pointy ears were clearly visible for Shizuru to take a good look at as she watched Natsuki's walk towards a far room.

However, she decided to forgo the ear inspection for the view of Natsuki's behind moving through the cotton with each stride the girl took. After the elf had turned into yet another room, which Shizuru assumed was the bedroom, the human girl returned her focus to the show playing out on the screen in front of her and continued to do so until it ended (The contestant winning out after all) and Natsuki rejoined her on the small couch, now dressed in a set of pale green pyjamas.

Turning her head, Shizuru met Natsuki's gaze as the elf absently reached up and ran a hand through her long, dark locks. After a few moments of silence, Shizuru decided to speak up and dispel some of the awkwardness between them.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, Natsuki."

"What..? Look, no worries, but aren't you mad at _me _for.... Y'know, kidnapping you and all?"

Shizuru laughed and shook her head.

"No, in fact, I've been wondering how to pay Natsuki back for letting me stay here. Perhaps I could be Natsuki's maid?"

Natsuki actually stopped and contemplated this. _Having a maid would be pretty handy..._

However, it was clear when the perverted smile crossed Shizuru's face that she was about to revert into "Teasing Mode."

"Yes, I could wear one of those ridiculously short french maid outfits and the heels...."

"No! Stop mucking around, Shizuru."

"Or perhaps I could provide full body massages for Natsuki after a long day at work..."

"I told you to stop saying things like that!"

Shizuru paused, smirking at Natsuki's reactions, before letting out a victorious sound.

"Oh! I can perform sexual favours for Natsuki as payment for letting me live here!"

Natsuki facepalmed before throwing her arms up into the air.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, STOP BEING SARCASTIC!"

"Ara, I wasn't joking that time~"

Slumping forward and resting her arms on her knees, Natsuki buried her face into her arms and groaned. She was right - putting up with Shizuru was an extremely difficult task for someone with as little patience as her.

Sitting up and scratching the bridge of her nose, Natsuki glanced at the television and then at the clock.

"Look, it's getting late now. I have to get up early tomorrow..."

Here, she paused to take in Shizuru's fidgety countenance. Shizuru was awaiting the rest of her sentence with a question lingering on the tip of her tongue and in her eyes and Natsuki immediately knew what she wanted to ask.

'... I'm not sure what I'm going to do with you yet. Since Tate and Kazuya saw you and believed you were an elf I think it would be ok for you to occasionally make appearances in public, but soon people will start asking questions..."

Shizuru cut her off with a tinkle of laughter.

"Natsuki was thinking of this the entire while in the shower?"

"W-well, it's only natural for me to figure out what to do in this situation -"

"And it was such a long shower too! Mah, if Natsuki were living in my neighbourhood, the Water corp. would be onto her so quickly..."

"Oi! It's my water and I pay for it! So back off!"

Shizuru, now grinning at Natsuki's cutely defiant and defensive expression, watched curiously as the indignant girl's scowl gradually faded into a meek blush as she realised that Shizuru was only stirring her up again. Shaking her head exasperatedly, Natsuki stood up and massaged her temples. The stressful events of today were catching up to her finally.

"Look, I'm going to bed now. I want you to stay here, do not leave this room because not only am I at risk for bringing you here, but they're not gonna exactly welcome you, an intruder, with fireworks and confetti either, got it?"

Natsuki inwardly felt a tiny surge of satisfaction as Shizuru's confident smirk faltered just a little at the ominous words. Walking over to a storage cupboard in the wall, Natsuki pulled out a thin throw rug and a spare pillow that she tossed towards her house guest.

"You sleep here for tonight. You can watch T.V, each coin gives you an hour and there's more in my bag over there. But don't use too many - I now owe a hell of a lot to Nao and can't just go throwing money around anymore."

She grumbled the last words childishly with a scowl, which caused Shizuru to smile, before turning and walking back towards the bedroom. She casually threw a wave over her shoulder as she walked without turning back.

"Night."

"Good night, my Natsuki."

"Yours...?"

And the rest of Natsuki's sentence wasn't heard by Shizuru as the bedroom door closed and the law student was left alone in the living area, perched on a sofa in front of a tiny, ancient television and now watching some kind of black and white horror movie.

_Ara, let's see what tomorrow brings, shall we...?_

* * *

The next morning came by and Natsuki was brushing her hair in front of a large mirror in the kitchen. Shizuru was still sitting on the same sofa she had woken up on, clutching a steaming white mug in her hands and sipping at it gingerly. She had been horrified to learn that Natsuki did not drink tea, although for her sake the elf had managed to salvage a few stale teabags from the back of her cupboard and had promised Shizuru that she would buy some more after work today.

Shizuru was immensely relieved - she had no idea how Natsuki could stomach that disgusting coffee brew, and was not about to join her in it.

In fact, she'd found that nearly all of Natsuki's eating habits were peculiar - The young woman even decorating her morning toast with a squirt of mayonnaise and some crushed potato chips while Shizuru herself daintily spread a thin layer of jam across the bread.

_Poor girl, living on her own like this must make her so clueless about normal routines..._

As she tied her long hair back and prepared to leave for work, Natsuki stopped short in front of the door and threw Shizuru another cautionary glance.

"You're not to leave this room until I get back, understand?"

"Ara, Natsuki speaks as though it were a four year old she's leaving behind."

Rolling her eyes at the girl's attempt to get a rise out of her, Natsuki sighed and made eye contact with the ever-smirking girl.

"Look, you'll stay in here and wait for me to get home from work, okay?"

"Araa~ would Natsuki like me to keep the bed warm and be ready and waiting for her when she gets home from a hard day at work, hmm?"

"H-hey! None of that... that weird sexual stuff!"

"Ara, that's no fun."

With a grumble, Natsuki pulled open the door and exited, shutting it behind her and leaving Shizuru sitting in a silent, empty apartment.

Gazing around the room, Shizuru observed the odd items of clothing littering the carpet and numerous bowls and cups sitting on all kinds of surfaces around the room.

_Natsuki isn't a very tidy person... Well, I might as well make myself useful..._

And, rising to her feet and collecting her tea mug along with her, Shizuru walked off to start the dishes and proceeded to slowly clean up Natsuki's apartment.

A few hours later, the place now spick and span, Shizuru sat back down on (her) sofa and leaned back into the plush padding, sighing as she felt her muscles relaxing. _I could __**really **__do with some tea right now..._

Glancing up at the clock, Shizuru felt a twinge of despair when she saw that it was only 2pm. _Ara, Natsuki will not be back until dinnertime, which means no tea until then..._

Sitting there, lying against the back of the sofa, Shizuru's thoughts wandered towards making a quick trip out of the apartment, finding the canteen, and buying herself a secret box of tea leaves...

As she imagined this scenario, Shizuru's gaze wandered over to rest on the bag of Natsuki's that was still sat upon the counter. Catching herself, Shizuru gasped and shook her head to clear her betraying thoughts.

_No! I can't! Natsuki explicitly told me not to leave the apartment!_

And so she just sat there for another fifteen minutes, watching the clock tick away merrily and swallowing down the moisture that gathered in her mouth. She imagined it was tea.

_I really need some tea..._

For yet another half hour, Shizuru debated with her inner self over right and wrong before her withdrawal symptoms got the better of her and prompted her to walk into Natsuki's closet, change into a green uniform, pull last night's green cap firmly over her ears and pick up Natsuki's shoulder bag as she left the apartment, taking one of Natsuki's spare keys with her.

"Right.... Now where is the canteen?"

Shizuru, shrugging and deciding that she had well over five hours to wander around and find it before Natsuki got home, set off in a random direction and went onwards to tour the factory.

* * *

By three pm, Natsuki's stomach was growling. Feeling that she had done an adequate job in polishing the sleigh, Natsuki tossed the rag onto her nearby workbench and stood up, stretching all the cricks out of her spine and glancing at Nao.

"Can I go on break, Nao?"

The redhead in question, sitting at her desk flipping through a magazine, pointedly ignored her.

".... Nao?"

".........."

Sighing angrily, Natsuki felt her eyebrow twitch as she swallowed back a curse.

"Ughn... _Yuuki-sama_?"

Glancing up cheerily, Nao grinned brightly at Natsuki.

"Sure, go ahead Kuga."

Taking great delight in Natsuki's humiliation, Nao's jade eyes followed Natsuki as she stormed out of the garage and slammed the door behind her. Oh, teasing Natsuki really was too fun for her. The girl was easier to piss off than a short-tempered bulldog.

Readjusting her magazine, Nao looked back down at it but her thoughts remained elsewhere and she paid no real attention to the article.

_Natsuki better do something about that woman soon, before we're both in a whole world of trouble._

Natsuki herself was walking to her usual vending machine when she bumped into Kazuya.

"Ah, Kuga-san! How coincidental, I usually barely see you and now it's twice in two days!"

Natsuki, who had a hard time conversing with others, forced herself to contribute to the conversation for the sake of manners.

"Er, yes, true. I heard one of the reindeer is sick, is that why you're up here in the main building?"

"Yeah, Suzushiro-san is requesting a full inspection and diagnosis from me - She wants to make sure poor Rudolph is well and truly sick before giving him this Christmas eve off."

Natsuki hmm'ed in agreement.

"Sounds like something Suzushiro would do, not waste a single cent unless it was totally necessary. Being part of the vetinary team must suck right now."

"It is difficult," Kazuya laughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and tucking his clipboard under his arm. Then, remembering something, he opened his eyes and smiled at Natsuki.

"So how did your night with Shizuru-san go? She seemed kind of out of it this morning... She really must've drank a lot last night, hahaha!"

Natsuki inwardly groaned, remembering that she had used to excuse of hooking up with Shizuru in order to make a cover for them in case they were spotted on their way back to her dorm. Blood suddenly running cold, Natsuki felt her heart thud as Kazuya's words fully sunk in.

_She seemed out of it.... __**this morning?**_

"Oh and come to think of it, Kuga-san, you said she was part of the Doll division but she was wearing the full suit and green cap so I asked her if she was actually a gardener and, get this, she didn't even know where she was meant to be! It seemed she had just recently transferred from the courtyard duties into the main building and she -"

Lunging forward, Natsuki grabbed hold of the fabric at Kazuya's shoulders as she stared at him wide-eyed.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

"W-what?"

The bewildered man just blinked as Natsuki demanded once again her partner's whereabouts.

"Where is Shizuru?! Where did you see her?!"

"U-uhh I showed her where the greenhouse was and then -"

"The greenhouse?! CRAP!"

And with that, Natsuki released her hold on the terrified boy and bolted off down the hall, leaving a confused and shaken veterinarian in her wake.

The greenhouse, it turned out, was a single floor of the building dedicated to growing festive plants. Namely, mistletoe.

Shizuru wandered through the rows of greenery, wondering just how they managed to have the floor look and feel like actual grassy soil and the painted roof almost giving the illusion of being a sky at dusk. Smiling as she passed another gardener, who barely stopped to smile back, Shizuru felt an inner joy bubble up to the surface of her mind.

_I can't believe that all of this is real! Everything happening to me right now isn't a dream! I'm at the North Pole!_

Continuing her stroll, Shizuru was happy and content in the half-dark room and was nearly startled into jumping out of her skin when she felt someone harshly seize her arm.

"Ara - Natsuki?"

Smiling sheepishly at the girl who glared at her with all of hell's fury, breath coming out in ragged pants from her run halfway across the building to get here, and Shizuru for once was getting a little nervous.

"Oh, you see Natsuki, there was no tea and I just needed -"

"Don't. Don't you dare try to make excuses."

Natsuki's icy tone made Shizuru fall silent immediately. Her no-nonsense expression was rather unnerving for the tawny-haired girl too. Smiling weakly, Shizuru half-heartedly made an attempt to appease Natsuki.

"Ara, I missed Natsuki's beautiful face so much that I simply had to go looking for... her...?"

Oh, bad idea. Natsuki's eyes narrowed even more and her entire body tensed. Shizuru wondered if she was actually going to see frost developing on the arm that Natsuki still had a firm grip on. Yes, with one look Shizuru could tell that Natsuki was ready to explode.

"I can't believe that you're still...."

Her words were whispered, though which each passing they were increasing in volume and rapidly approaching a crescendo that Shizuru was sure was going to involve the elf screaming at her.

"... trying to joke at A TIME LIKE - _Mmmpph?!"_

Natsuki's eyes widened and she stumbled under the weight of Shizuru's body which had thrown itself at her. Feeling a warm, wet mouth encompassing her own, Natsuki panicked and pushed Shizuru backwards until their lips parted with an audible smack.

"WHAT THE F-?!?!"

And before she could get any words out, Shizuru had swooped in again and Natsuki found a persistent tongue eager to shut her up and the other girl's hands tightening around her back, pulling her closer.

Natsuki continued to struggle, feeling the strength in her limbs draining as it was replaced with a warm, buzzing feeling coursing throughout her system and she began to see little specks of light fill her vision from lack of oxygen. Pulling back, Shizuru sucked in a lungful of air as she grinned sheepishly and pointed to the roof.

"Ah, mistletoe, you see..."

Natsuki, still dazedly staring at the girl whose lips were coated with the wetness from their kiss and the elf's eyes unable to tear away from them, swallowed deeply and tried to force some common sense back into her hazy mind. Before she had a chance to get angry again, however, Shizuru had leant forward and whispered warm words into her ear.

"Perhaps it would be best if you continued scolding me back in your apartment, Natsuki... I fear you may blow our cover if you openly yell at me here in public.... People are watching, you know."

And as the human girl pulled back, Natsuki looked around to see that all of the nearby workers had stopped to watch the spectacle that had just taken place before them. Face erupting into a blazing red, Natsuki coughed and readjusted her grip on Shizuru's arm.

"Um, yeah, we should - ahem, you're right. Let's go, shall we?"

And an incredibly embarrassed sleigh engineer proceeded to drag off her companion who was waving and smiling at all the accidental observers who nervously waved back at the strange tawny-haired female that had just shaken up their boring little day.

* * *

Preview for next chapter:

"I am Kanzaki Reito, and I believe you may be the most beautiful elf I have ever laid eyes upon. Would you accompany me to dinner tonight, Miss...?"

"Fujino Shizuru. Ara, however I'm afraid I am already booked out for tonight."

"Oh, what a shame. Who is the lucky man, may I ask?"

"Well the lucky man is a lucky woman, and it is my girlfriend, Natsuki~"

"What?! Shizuru, I never agreed to this! I - er, I mean, I love you too sweetikins."

* * *

A/N: Chapter three, written two hours before I'm due to get up for work :)

So if you still want this fic continued even though it is no longer the holiday season, let me know otherwise I was planning to pick it up again next Christmas when everyone is back in the festive spirit. What do you guys think?


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